St. Viator Jazz Band opens Summer Concert Series in Arlington Heights

Sara Fecko of Arlington Heights performs with the St. Viator Jazz Band in Harmony Park.Courtesy of Saint Viator High School

St. Viator students, faculty, parents and alumni were among the folks who came out to hear the St. Viator Jazz Band open the outdoor summer concert series in Arlington Heights.Courtesy of Saint Viator High School

Submitted by Saint Viator High School

The St. Viator Jazz Band continued a tradition they started more than a dozen years ago: They opened the outdoor, summer concert series in downtown Arlington Heights.

Playing under the direction of Tom Seaman, St. Viator students have performed in Arlington Heights nearly every year since the series started, in 2000.

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They played at Harmony Park, located at Campbell Street and Vail Avenue, in the heart of the village's downtown business district. The picturesque park and fountain were developed in part to reflect the successful summer music series.

"This is one of our favorite concerts of the year," Seaman told the crowd of fans, who brought blankets, lawn chairs and picnic suppers. "We look forward to this all year."

The concert featured tunes from the big band era, as well as Latin melodies and hits by the band Chicago. The 90-minute set also featured Sara Fecko of Arlington Heights, who graduated in May and is only the second vocalist to perform with the band.

She had the crowd humming along with such classics as "At Last" and "I Will Survive," while the band's rendition of Dave Brubeck's, "Take Five" and Stevie Wonder's "Superstition," had them tapping their feet.

Students, faculty, parents and alumni all came out for the concert, as well as the incoming president of St. Viator, Fr. Corey Brost, CSV, and Br. Rob Robertson, CSV, a counselor at the school and newly elected provincial council member of the Viatorians.

Many of the band's selections came from their award-winning season this year, when they performed at school and community events, including at the Jazz in the Meadows festival at Rolling Meadows High School, another long-standing tradition with the band.